Sinkek mechanism pob forming openwork knitting



E. M. WITHERELL.

SINKER MECHANISM FOR FORMING OPENWORK KNITTING} APPLICATION FILED MAR 28. I921.

Patented Apr. 25, 1922.

EARL 1\I. WITI-IERELL, OF DULUTH, MINNESOTA.

SINKER MECHANISM FOR FORMING OPENWORK KNITTING.

Application filed March 28, 1921.

To all to 710m it may concern Be it known that I, EARL M. \Vrrrmnnnn, a citizen of the United States, residing at Duluth, in the county of St. Louis and State of Minnesota, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Sinker Meelr anism for Forming Openwork Knitting, of which the following is a specification, referenee being had therein to the accompanying drawing.

This invention relates to knitting machines which are equipped with web holders or sinkers for engagement with a web intermediate the wales thereof and has special reference to an auxiliary web holder or sinker for such machines.

The principal. object of the invention is to provide such auxiliary sinkers wherein to produce what is referred to in the art as mock drop stitching, being in reality an abnormal space intermediate of certain groups of wales such as are common in the ribbed portions of hosiery and the like.

Other objects and advantages of the in vention will appear in the further description thereof.

Referring to the acrompanying drawing forming part of this application and in which like reference characters indicate like parts:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of one of the auxiliary sinkers;

Figure 2 is a similar view of a common web holder or sinker;

Figure 3 is a transverse sectional view of the upper fragmental portion of the needle cylinder and sinker head of a circular knit ting machine as equipped with my improved auxiliary sinkers and mechanism for operatmg same;

Figure 4 is portion of the s her head, and

Figure 5 is an enlarged plan view of one of the common sinkers in its upright position and one of the auxiliary sinkers in cooperative relation therewith 1 represents the needle cylinder of the ma chine about the upper end of which is the annularly shaped sinker ring or web holder ring 2 and in which are formed the radially disposed spaced slots 3 in which the ordinary web holders or sinkers 4 reciprocate. 5 represents the vertieally disposed needles which are carried in the usual manner in spaced slots about the circumferential edge of the cylinder 1 and which does not form an cs plan View of a fragmental pecification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 755, 1922.

Serial No. 456,056.

sential part of my present invention. (5 rep resents the annularly shaped cam carrier which is mounted upon the ring 2 and into the cam recess 7 of which upon the oxide! side thereof project the butts 8 of the sinkers.

In order to incorporate my present invention in a machine of this character the width or thickness of the common sinkers alat the point in the garment where the drop stitch is to occur is reduced by approximately one half and one of the auxiliary sinkers 9 is in stalled in close juxtaposition with the thus thinned sinker, they being independently reciprocable, but operated in the same slot. The auxiliary sinker 9 is of the same general shape as the sinker 41: except that the butt carrying shank is consir erahly longer so that the butts may operate in an independent cam race from that in which the butts of the com mon sinkers operate, and I prefer to make the web receiving notch 10 of the auxiliary sinker slightly higher than the notch 11 of the common sinker so that w ien the web is carried inwardly by the auxiliary sinker it will be somewhat slightly raised to further increase its almorn'iality when acted upon by said auxiliary sinker.

Upon the under side of the H111 head 6 adjacent the circumferential edge thereof and in a suitably formed recess are two horizon tally operated cams 12 and 13. they being pivotally mounted on a common pin indicated at 14; and are intermittently operative within the cam race or path of the butts 8 of the auxiliary sinkers so as to engage said butts at a predetm'mined point in the rotation of the ll'ldClllfiQ, The cam 13 is somewhat shorter than the cam l2 and they are controlled by vertically disposed. L- shaped rocker arms 1.5 id 16 respectively, the arms l5 and 16 being pivotally mounted i 'et att ched to -l e automati ly opeated by ther cooper \e port of th machine not shown, but common in the art, so that the came 15, and are forced inwardly at the ,roper moment to similarly actuate the sinkers 9 at the proper predeten mined time during the rotation of the needle cylinder.

I have shown the butts of certain of the auxiliary sinkers as being higher than cer tain others of said sinkers which is necessary for the independent operation of such groups when, for example, the first portion of a hose is knitted wherein only a part thereof is formed with the mock stitch and the other part plain knitted thus requiring the independent control. of the different sets of auxiliary sinkers which is accom plished by the double cams l2 and 13 above described.

Now the object of the auxiliary sinker-s be ing that of abnormally pulling or sinking the web of the fabric intermediate of the wales, said sinkers are so arranged in con nection with their controlling cams as to be thrust inwardly the proper distance beyond the limits of the common sinkers 4L- and thus abnormally carry and hold. the web in such position during the subsequent forming of the stitch, which results in the desired in creased space intermediate of the wales of the fabric at such predetermined points and it is evident that these auxiliary sinkers may be spaced within the head of the needle cylinder as required to produce the desired spacing o1 the mock drop stitch.

The auxiliary sinkers may thus operate wholly independently of their adjacent 0011 mon sinkers 4t and vice versa so that the normal operation of the knitting machine is in no way interfered with.

An auxiliary sinker may be used in C0111- bination with all of the common sinkers in a knitting machine and thus produce a raraeer lmsely woven tlabric' if desired as, for em am pie, when an elastic thread is incorporated within a portion of a garment.

.H a ving thus described my invention, what claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

l. The combination with a knitting ma chine having a plurality of spaced reciprocable sinkers slidable within slots in the sinker ring of said machine of auxiliary Web sinkers one of which may be positioned with in any desired slot and slidahly engaging the sinker within said slot.

2. The combii'iation with a knitting ma chine having a plurality of spaced reciprocable sinkers slidable within slots in the sinker ring of said machine, of auxiliary web sinkers one ol whichmay be positioned with in any desired slot slidably engaging the sinker within said slot, and means for optionally independently operating the auxiliary sinkers in excess of the other sinker-s :tor the purpose described.

In testimony whereof I hereunto aatlii; my sigi'iature in the presence of two witnesses.

' EARL M. lVITHER-ELL.

Witnesses S. (J. BRONSUN,

S. GED. STEVENS. 

